How to Upgrade or Replace Your laptop GPU

It is not difficult to replace your laptop graphic card, the hard part is to upgrade where you need to identify which graphic is better and compatible with your laptop. So how to identify which graphic card is compatible? for this one you need to get advice from laptop graphic card seller and they will tell you what is the compatible graphic cards you can buy for you laptop model. You also can call the service center or Google the Video Cards replacement parts for your model or read the Manuals. For example HP NX9420 and NW series can use Nvidia FX 1500M over AMD Mobility Radeon X1600.

A. Upgrade and Replacement Process
Get your laptop service manual, you will need to read the part removal and replacement. You can get it from your laptop manufacture site. For this tutorial we will replace Acer Aspire 7720 With ATI Graphic Card.

1. Remove the back cover by loosen the screw and open the back compartment.
*Note : For othe model such as HP or DELL or other models, the removal might be slightly different. Please refer your manual.

2. Next step is to remove the heatsink. Unscrew the driver and carefully remove the heatsink.

3. Now loosen the Graphic Chipset Screw, and carefully pull to remove it from the slot.

4. Insert you new graphic and apply fair amount of thermal paste.

5. Lastly put the heat sink back in place and close the back compartment.


C. Things to consider before Upgrade/Replacement.
1.Normally if there is only a slight increase in graphic performance after upgrade. You can't expect to get from 256MB to 512MB. Normally 251Mb to 358MB is the highest replacement I ever know.

2. This method originally intend for replacement where lot's of GPU is defect caused by high temperature.

3. Upgrade normally requires you to replace both Mainboard and GPU which costs more than a new laptop, so you better use that money to buy a new one instead of upgrading. Replacement on the other hand only requires a new the same new graphic chipset which is available on

4. If your graphic chipset is defect by overheating, make sure after the replacement the temperature is below 60 degree. Different graphic chip will produce different amount of heat and you need to observe the temperature carefully. Otherwise it will defect again after 30-days (or less).

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How to fix Your Laptop Graphic Card

Heat is the main factor that cause laptop's video card failure. The continuous overheating cause the solder connection around the chipset melted and unseat. Base on your model, your graphic chipset (GPU) could be embedded on your motherboard or a removable type. You must read your manual on how to disassemble each component but basically you will need to remove the back compartment and you will see the heat sink and, GPU and CPU right away. What we actually want to do is to re-heated the GPU so that the solder connections seated again.

Fix Laptop Removable Graphic Chipset.

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Certain laptop such as Acer models have a removable graphic chipset which allow your to remove them from the Main board.

Removable Laptop's Video Card

 First Step : Remove the back cover/compartment and then remove the heat-sink.

Second Step : Remove the graphic chipset and wrap it with aluminum foil or use a screw driver to create a gap between the GPU and the Oven.

Third Step : Put t in the oven for 10 minutes with 285 Degree.

Fourth Step : Allow it to cool before reassembling. (please apply fair amount of thermal paste on the GPU)


Fix laptop Embedded Graphic Chipset

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For some laptop like Compaq Model, you can't remove the graphic chipset since it is permanently embedded to the Main Board.

First Step : Remove the back cover/compartment and then remove the heatsink.

Second Step : Cover all other components (except GPU) with aluminum foil to avoid heat to come in contact with other component.

Third Step : Apply the heat by using a HeatGun for about 40-50 seconds 1-inch above the GPU and apply it at the center of the GPU.

Fourth Step : Allow it to cool before reassembling.

Notes :
You can also use any tools that produce heat such a a hair dryer but of course it will take longer compare to HeatGun..

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How to Upgrade/Replace Laptop's RAM - Guide

RAM (Random Access Memory) is a very important component for your laptop and computer performance. It allows you to run many program at one (multitask) without lagging and delay. Imagine the RAM as a table for your workspace, the bigger workspace means you can have multiple items on the table instead of small workspace allows limited items on the table.

It is not difficult to upgrade your laptop RAM, you just need to get a screwdriver or a small knife will do. Before start, you need to remove power chord and battery and also remove anything that attach to it such as USB Mouse and headphone.

1. First loosen the screw on the RAM compartment.

2. Open it  and you will see your RAM right away.
2. Most laptop have 2 RAM slots, if you own an old laptop you might see only one slot.
3. Pull the retention clip (1) and the RAM will tilts up(2) and pull it up to remove it from the slot(3). Make sure you don't touch the Golden part with your hand.

4. Now take your new RAM and press it at the memory slot (45 Degree angle) until it seated properly.
5. Press the RAM down until you hear a snap sound.
6. Now close the cover and we are done.

The ram slot and ram cover will be different base on your laptop model. Example most Compaq laptop (like picture above) have a very small cover while Acer laptop such as Extensa 4920 have a very large memory module cover.

Things you need to know Before Buying the RAM or Upgrade and Replacement
1. Make sure you use right RAM type such as DDR2 and DDR3. Most current Laptop use DDR3. You can identify your RAM by looking at the RAM itself and  I always advice my friend to pull out one RAM, go to the store and show the RAM so they can give you right RAM for your laptop.

2. If you are using 2 RAM slots. The best practice it to use the same RAM for both slots such as 4GB(amount) DDR3(type) 1333Mhz(clock) x 2 slots.

3. Know your RAM limits. You laptop do have limit on how much RAM you can put on them. If you use 4GB x 2slots = 8GB total, but your laptop will read only 4GB if it only support up to 4GB of RAM.

Memory Limits depend on Operating System
Each operating system does have limit, depend on your operating system you should plan your upgrade properly. If you installed more than what it do support,you computer will boot up properly and it will  show a message like this : 8GB installed memory (4GB Usable). Here is example for Windows 7, you can get all windows memory limits here.

Version	Limit on X86	Limit on X64
Windows 7 Ultimate	4 GB	192 GB
Windows 7 Enterprise	4 GB	192 GB
Windows 7 Professional	4 GB	192 GB
Windows 7 Home Premium	4 GB	16 GB
Windows 7 Home Basic	4 GB	8 GB
Windows 7 Starter	2 GB	N/A

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